'Dusty' Rogers — Sons of the Pioneers (2024)

FAQs

Did Roy Rogers have a biological son? ›

Dusty has been acting and performing almost since birth. The only natural born son of Roy Rogers, he was raised by Roy and Dale Evans, the couple known to millions of Americans through TV, radio, and dozens of beloved Western movies.

Most importantly, he was at peace with himself and his god. His final words were reportedly, I never expected to see you in heaven. He said these touching words to his son, Dusty Rogers, who had visited him a few days before he died. Dusty had been estranged from his father for many years.

Evans had a son by a previous marriage, Tom Fox. Rogers and Evans had one biological child together, Robin, and they adopted three children, Debbie, John David “Sandy,” and Mary Little Doe “Dodie.” They also fostered a daughter, Marion “Mimi” from Scotland, whom they considered to be their adopted child as well.

The court records show Rogers and Evans transferred as gifts 292.5 limited partnership units in 1994 to each of their six children--Roy Rogers Jr., Cheryl Barnett, Marion Swift, Linda Johnson, Dodie Sailors and Tom Fox.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had a baby with Down syndrome in 1950. Instead of hiding her away, as was the norm at the time, they embraced her as part of their family, talked about her to their audiences, and included her in all their celebrity photo shoots.

Rogers had two of his own children and an adopted daughter from a previous marriage. With Dale, he adopted four children, including Mimi. The couple had one child of their own Robin, who had Down's syndrome and died of complications with mumps shortly before her second birthday.

Rogers met Dale Evans in 1944, when they were cast in a film together. They fell in love soon after Grace's death, and Rogers proposed to her during a rodeo at Chicago Stadium. They married on New Year's Eve in 1947 at the Flying L Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had filmed Home in Oklahoma a few months earlier.

Hold on partner: The day Clint Black met the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers. A childhood dream of meeting B-Western hero Roy Rogers serendipitously came true for Black's songwriting and guitar ally Hayden Nicholas.

Estimated to be worth more than 100 million dollars, at the peak of his career Roy was earning more than a million dollars a year. His horse Trigger appeared in 87 films and 101 TV shows with the popular cowboy star.

Off screen, in 1945, Dale Evans was divorced from her husband, and the next year, Rogers's wife, Arlene Wilkins Rogers, died of an embolism one week after giving birth to their son, Roy Rogers Jr. (called Dusty).

How old was Dale Evans when she had her first child? ›

At age 14, she eloped with and married Thomas F. Fox, with whom she had one son, Thomas F. Fox Jr., when she was 15. A year later, abandoned by her husband, she found herself in Memphis, Tennessee, a single parent pursuing a career in music.

Among the Rogers children, four were adopted. One -- unusual for 1955 -- was an Amerasian daughter from Korea who came to them at age 3. Little In-Ai Lee became "Debbie." In a family tragedy she was killed in a church bus accident as she turned 12.

Roy Rogers also married twice before Evans — to Lucile Ascolese and Grace Arline Wilkins. Sadly, shortly after giving birth to Roy Jr., Grace passed away due to complications with her delivery. Evans had gotten a divorce the year before. In time, Rogers and Evans found love together.

Despite the false biography pushed by the movie studio, Rogers was not born a cowboy. He wasn't even really Roy Rogers. He was Leonard Franklin Slye, born on Nov. 5, 1911, in Cincinnati at 412 E.

Adopted son of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Roy Rogers' adopted son, John David (Sandy) Rogers, choked to death Sunday at a military hospital in Germany, U.S. Army spokesmen said.

Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd (called "Joanne") from Jacksonville, Florida, while attending Rollins College. They were married from 1952 until he died in 2003. They had two sons, James and John.

Evans was born in Uvalde, Texas on October 31, 1912. She was married to Thomas Frederick Fox from 1927 until they divorced in 1929. They had a son. She was later married to August Wayne Johns from 1929 until they divorced in 1935.

James Byrd Rogers

Fred Rogers / Son